The president of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, has given instructions for 20 inmates linked to criminal structures who were incarcerated in different penitentiary centers in Barranquilla, in the north of the country, to be transferred to Bogotá.
"By my direct order, the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (INPEC) is putting an end to the comfort zones of those who intend to continue committing crimes from prison. I ordered the transfer to penitentiary establishments in Bogotá of 20 persons deprived of liberty who were held in Barranquilla," the president indicated in a message disseminated through his social networks.
De la Espriella specified that ten of the inmates were being held in police facilities in this area of the Colombian Caribbean, while the other ten remained in the district jail of Barranquilla. "The transfers are being carried out under rigorous, maximum, and extreme security measures, with the support of the Public Force, to prevent escapes, rescues, or attacks," he added.
Among the 20 prisoners are members of the criminal gangs Los Costeños and Los Pepes. All of them will initially be taken to the capital, Bogotá, and subsequently relocated to different prisons in the national territory "according to the security determinations adopted by INPEC."
"The presidential order is clear: from prisons, there is no extortion, no threats, nor direction of crime. The prisons of Colombia are controlled by the State, not by criminals. The privileges and complicity with crime are over," the head of State emphasized.
In parallel to these decisions, the penitentiary authorities had already undertaken a plan to redistribute inmates to reduce overcrowding and reinforce the security of both the incarcerated population and the staff. At the beginning of August, the transfer of 403 prisoners to different prisons in the Latin American country was carried out, according to the newspaper 'El Colombiano.'
INPEC made this figure public after initially communicating the movement of 117 inmates classified as "high profile." In detail, on August 7, 39 persons deprived of liberty were relocated, while the next day the operation was completed with the transfer of another 364 prisoners.
With this package of measures, the Government intends to strengthen control over the penitentiary system, increase security levels, and neutralize the capacity of criminal organizations to continue coordinating or enhancing their activities from within the prisons, thus dismantling any criminal structure they may have consolidated in the detention centers.